Customer service, anything can happen

Greg Ross

Seeking assistance from Australian retailers and service providers when goods are faulty, or the charges incorrect, can be a fascinating experience.

Regardless of the strength of current consumer protection laws, you never quite know what the reception will be, as I have recently discovered.

The Ridiculous: My partner bought me a travel mug for work. She bought it for $17 from Mensbitz, a store in Midland. I used it for four days then the rubber lid ripped apart. "No problems", we thought, "we'll get it exchanged."

Damaged mug Photo: Greg Ross

After being laughed and humiliated out of the shop twice by the female assistant (I use the term advisedly), my partner wouldn't go back. So I did. The same assistant, shrugged her shoulders, folded her arms and said, "Oh that again, I told her I don't deal with returns. You'll have to come back when the manager's here."

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I emailed him. He did sort of apologise, telling me he'd have new stock in a couple of weeks, or I could get my money back. But the sour taste over four weeks has left me unwilling to visit the shop ever again. We had spent money there previously. And all for $17, less really, we just wanted an exchange.

The Excellent: In case nobody's noticed, Woolworths are simply amazing. We've had a couple of products go wrong, including a coffee pod machine and there have been no queries, just sincere politeness and the friendly offer of exchange or money back.

Damaged lining. Photo: Greg Ross

In the case of the coffee pod machine it was four months old, no problems, we were given a new one instantly. We've also had the experience where the docket has been wrong and they give you the product for free. From being a bloke who couldn't care less, I now trust, like and consciously shop at Woolworth stores.

The Sublime: In July last year, I bought an expensive $500+ duffle coat from a Rodd & Gunn shop in Bowral NSW, expressly for the times I spend in Europe, often in the colder months.

Over this last festive season, I noticed the zip-out lining had frayed, although I'd not used the zip. On my return home to Australia, I emailed the company with a couple of photos, asking their advice. They have been astounding. They were so apologetic, said replacing the lining wasn't good enough, they would replace the coat and sourced one in my size from Auckland New Zealand, with the WA State manager offering to meet me in Myer to exchange the coats. They've got me, I'll continue to buy clothes from them.

The Two Bob Watch: I needed a cheap watch to wear at work, friends going to Bali offered to buy me a 'Bali special' and duly returned with a splendid Rolex, demanding $25 in return.

If this was a stamp, the watch would be worth a fortune – it has 'Rolex Day Date' proudly stamped on the face, but there is no date or day display. I've resisted the temptation of complaining to the Rolex factory and sadly, a recent bout of hot steamy weather, saw moisture gather inside the watch, but hey, it lasted for seven months, keeping perfect time, no complaints.

The Sour and Bitter: I had the terrifying experience of my Seagate external hard drive collapsing, taking with it much of my collective data. After trying a couple of Seagate recommended recovery methods I realised I needed a recovery expert and Googled to finds some.

The list came up with a company in Duncraig, Wired Office Computers, so I rang them. The chap asked me to bring the hard drive around. After looking at it, he told me he would need to send it away for a quote and that there would be an initial charge of $113, but, if I decided to go ahead with the recovery, the $113 would be credited to the final amount, standard practice for any sort of repair. I gratefully agreed.

He told me he didn't need the new external hard drive I'd brought along and I could take that home. Three or four weeks later, he emailed me to say the recovery would be successful and the cost would be $1490 if I went ahead. I immediately agreed.

However, when he emailed me the invoice, the original $113 was not taken into account, plus there was a $130 charge for a new external hard drive and GST was added to the total invoice.

The whole cost was now getting close to $500 more than the original quote. He denies ever having told me the $113 would come off the total and has dropped the price of the external hard drive and the GST is no longer mentioned.

He's now telling me he's not a data storage unit and to hurry up and pick up my stuff. He's beaten me, it's not worth any more angst, I'll pay the bloody money, but I'll tell the story over dinner and to the media.

5 comments

Sounds like you've got more money than sense

Commenter

Ant Doyle

Date and time

January 28, 2014, 7:24AM

no is just in right position to get the good treatment See he hands out freebies of good plugs to exchange for personalised service.Exclusive obviously .And gives bad wrap to ones who didint do their homework and check out his personal profiel ,or arent big enough to access personal information on internet like good sailors onboard with no privacy rights to individuals scheme can.You can easy see who does respect privacy and who doesnt by personalised experiences.,even told by others.

Commenter

Lane

Date and time

January 28, 2014, 1:07PM

I guess your right, Lane. I can definitely see a brand as small as Woolworths seeking out the massive advertising power of a plug from a journalist that no ones heard of.

Commenter

Ant Doyle

Date and time

January 28, 2014, 2:02PM

Customer isn't always right - Sorry to break the news, but some of the most self absorbed disrespectful customers out there is ridiculous. Granted, it goes without saying that respect and good customer service is critical in any customer/client dealings, but there are always those customers who believe they are owed the world. It's a fine line and some go beyond crossing it.

Commenter

Chris

Date and time

January 28, 2014, 7:45AM

Which Woolworths? I've found pretty much the opposite here in Perth and avoid Woolworths as a result. Their opening hours are poor, they close all but their self checkouts after 6pm, in spite of there still being large numbers of shoppers in store, their shelves have big gaps where common every day items should be sitting, the list goes on.